Origin

Middle English (denoting any of various instruments such as the dulcimer or the virginal): from Old Frenchsymphonie, via Latin from Greek sumphōnia, from sumphōnos 'harmonious', from sun- 'together' + phōnē 'sound'.

The word cacophony, meaning ‘a harsh discordant combination of sounds’, came via French from Greek kakophonia. Kakos was Greek for ‘bad’, and phōnē meant ‘sound’—it is the root of words like euphonious ( see euphemism), symphony (Middle English) ‘harmonious sound’, and telephone ( see telegraph).